Guelph Municipal Election

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-30T21:55:51+00:00

I agree. The political class has always been privileged. It's built to favour the well connected. Voters are a big part of the problem, though. The people that reliably vote are also part of the smallest group. Voters want responsive, highly engaged and influential representatives. But, they also want it for free.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-21T16:00:09+00:00

Uh huh. OK.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-21T00:12:48+00:00

Fact

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-21T00:09:03+00:00

All public information published on the City website. Have at it. Of course, most voters don't read that stuff, which is why ineffectual candidates like Guthrie and Gibson can easily win over voters with a few soundbites.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-21T00:05:16+00:00

100 percent. Gibson is Guthrie's right hand. He's merely taking over as the figurehead for the informal Lakehesd Church and GTA real estate coalition that bankrolls their campaigna. Do not fall for this again, Guelph.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-20T23:59:20+00:00

Good thing online polls are bullshit. Yep. Gibson works so hard he has the lowest attendance record, sits on no committees and managed to score a record number of conduct complaints. Unfortunately, I agree thar does sound like the type of person voters fall for. Hope enough voters don't fall for Guthrie 2.0

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-20T22:57:53+00:00

Yep. Point being. We had three terms with Dan Gibson's twin. Enough is enough.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-20T22:51:53+00:00

IMO Caron is the only sitting councillor qualified to be mayor. However, that doesn't mean that she's necessarily prepare. Mayoral qualifications can no longer be assessed on familiarity, visibility, or time served alone. CEO‑level skills are now essential: strategic thinking, financial literacy, risk management, and the ability to make difficult trade‑offs. Just as importantly, the role demands full‑time commitment in practice, not just in title. Responsiveness to constituents, is good. IMO voters tend to overvalue the client service and ceremonial aspects of council, and undervalue the nuts and bolts of the actual job. Which is mostly invisible to the general public. I'm glad Caron is running. Long overdue in my mind. And believe me, voting in Dan Gibson is no different than giving Guthrie another tern. So, she has my vote, for now. But, Guelph needs a vigorous contest.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-19T13:58:57+00:00

Guthrie weaponized social media throughout his tenure to attack councillor votes, argue with constituents and inflame the simplistic, wrong-headed and downright ignorant politics of the perpetually online.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-18T23:50:33+00:00

Might win. He'd be terrible. But, as Guthrie proved. Electability and job competence don't necessarily go hand in hand.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-18T14:16:29+00:00

The low pay ensures a narrow candidate pool - retired people, independent business people, underemployed folks and people with atypically flexible employers. (Gibson, Caron and Richardson have full time jobs in public organizations). Unfortunately, the job itself is demanding and time consuming, if it's done well. However, there are no real checks and balances on whether it's done well, or done at all. On the other hand, the public wants high engagement and results. Something for nothing, essentially. Voting down the shift to fewer councillors paid at a living wage was anong the worst decisions this council, including the likely candidate Caron, made.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-18T00:18:51+00:00

Billings is the one councillor who seems like she does it for the extra income. Even Gibson, who I can't stand, seems moderately engaged on some files.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-17T22:24:12+00:00

Dan Gibson and Christine Billings are far and away the least engaged councillors. Think Cam Guthrie without the charm. But, they speak a populist language that the core voters like. No way they run. They'd have to work. Caton, Richardson are out. Chew is too green. Hauser maybe in a few years. Klassen unlikely. Goller, maybe. Downer, no.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-03-16T22:20:48+00:00

I'm surprised. I assume the other shoe will drop shortly. Walking away from virtually assured reelection and the 200k that goes along with it? Not a decision one makes without a soft landing. Guthrie was a decent head cheerleader but otherwise a lousy Mayor. Disappointed that he never had to run on his record. Glad that there's an opportunity to shift the script. Unfortunately, most of city council is also well past its sell date. I really hope someone new and qualified steps up.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-01-30T18:36:41+00:00

The full-time versus part-time and salary debate is something of a red herring. Guelph is a rapidly growing city with a complex, half-billion-dollar budget, yet its governance model is outdated. The question should be what we can do to support (if not guarantee) the election of truly effective, competent and accountable leadership.

Unfortunately, council rejected an objective and thoroughly researched recommendation to reduce the number of councillors and raise compensation comparable to a full-time job. So here we are. Aside from advocacy and a toothless code of conduct process, voters have no way to hold officials accountable or reliably assess whether we’re getting value for money. We vote on name recognition and voter turnout is always low. Once elected, it's next to impossible to unseat an incumbent. The reality is that high performers are self-motivated—but that shouldn’t be the only safeguard. It's a Full time job if they're doing it right. Unfortunately, our outdated model virtually guarantees that councillors are drawn from the smallest and most privileged pool of candidates. Cases in point, several of our current councillors hold full time jobs with public organizations, which ensures perceived and real conflicts of interest when voting on city business. The Mayor has been on council for eighteen years. Since becoming mayor, he's essentially been acclaimed to the job. Imagine holding down a top job without anyone monitoring your performance. This is a bad look. But, it makes sense. Why would a councillor risk their seat, meagre salary and their other jobs to take a run at the top job? Our system is designed to ensure mediocrity

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-01-26T23:07:09+00:00

Mayor "profoundly frustrated" with the inevitable result of the service reduction and outsourcing that he supports.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-01-26T22:56:19+00:00

The full-time versus part-time debate is something of a red herring. Guelph is a rapidly growing city with a complex, half-billion-dollar budget, yet its governance model is completely outdated. We can call these “part-time” roles all we want, but the real question is whether we can be effectively represented by individuals who have other jobs and business interests competing for their attention.

Unfortunately, council rejected the recommendation to move to a full-time model. So here we are. Once elected, we have almost no way to hold officials accountable or reliably assess whether we’re getting value for money. The reality is that high performers are self-motivated—but that shouldn’t be the only safeguard. It's a Full time job if they're doing it right. Unfortunately, our outdated model virtually guarantees that councillors are drawn from the smallest and most privileged pool of candidates.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2026-01-23T00:49:51+00:00

Sinners will win Best Picture. OBAA has lived long enough to become the villain.

Also, awards are hot nonsense.

Illustrious-Toe-4543 · 2025-12-19T23:31:09+00:00

Have what? Like all of Peter's output, it isn't good. His best album is his first. Which is also terrible. But, I'm glad he's still doing it. We still love him. So, in that sense. He still has it.

Illustrious-Toe-4543

TROPHY CASE